Date?

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"Aren't you going to put it on first?"

As they walked out of the auction house, Lyle looked at the pendant in Jiang Cheng's hand and asked.

"What, do you really want to see it that much?"

Jiang Cheng raised her eyebrows with a smile.

"Well, I kind of do, yeah,"

Lyle shrugged, not bothering to hide it.

"Huh?"

Jiang Cheng was a bit surprised. Although she knew that as a Hero, Lyle wouldn't lie, she hadn't expected him to be so straightforward.

"All right then,"

Jiang Cheng shrugged back and handed the pendant over.

"Help me put it on, will you?"

She didn't care much about such things. Since it was Lyle, she didn't mind using this as an excuse to draw them a bit closer.

What's more... letting Lyle personally cover up any clues she might have exposed—

That kind of thing was... just too wonderful! It fit her twisted sense of aesthetics perfectly.

Just the thought made Jiang Cheng almost laugh out loud with excitement, and she couldn't hide the smile at the corners of her lips no matter how hard she tried.

"Are you that happy?"

Seeing the smile on Jiang Cheng's face, Lyle asked, a little puzzled.

"Mmhm?"

Jiang Cheng raised her eyebrow.

"Of course, after all, my dear Hero is going to put a necklace on me~"

Lyle was stunned for a moment, then fell silent with some embarrassment as he took the pendant from Jiang Cheng.

Jiang Cheng lowered her head slightly and stretched out her pale, slender neck.

Her grayish-white hair fell to either side, revealing her fair skin at the nape.

Lyle, looking a bit shy, carefully took the pendant in both hands and fastened it around Jiang Cheng's neck.

When his fingernails brushed against her delicate skin, he trembled as if shocked by electricity, only finally finishing the clasp and hurriedly withdrawing his hands.

Jiang Cheng shot Lyle a curious glance, not understanding what he was so embarrassed about.

It was just putting on a necklace—she didn't know why he had such a big reaction.

She shrugged, finally chalking it up to the peculiarities of a bashful virgin.

Curling her lips, she mused that this guy really was growing more and more interesting.

She wondered, once they got closer, if this identity were to die right in front of him, how would he react? Hee hee.

Lyle had no idea what she was thinking—he just suddenly felt a chill on his back, as if something dark and cold was staring at him from behind.

He couldn't help but shiver.

They walked down the bustling main street, where late-night pedestrians were now sparse but still present.

In the prosperous Adventurer City, the neon lights of various twenty-four-hour shops shimmered.

This scene was beyond anything any other city could achieve.

Although Jiang Cheng also liked the unique aesthetics of other cities, well...

She lifted her head to gaze at the distant high-rises.

Sure enough, for someone from the modern world like her, this kind of city was more fitting.

Even after so many years, although she had almost forgotten what modern society looked like—only painful memories clung desperately to her—

Still... not only did she get to meet Lyle, her favorite character in the novel, she could also toy with his feelings according to her own wicked sense of beauty. What a wonderful life this was.

She licked the corner of her lips and grinned at Lyle.

"Let's go find something fun to do—let's call it a date, hee hee."

Seeing the girl's smile, without a hint of affection and even full of mischief, Lyle was taken aback but eventually nodded. 'Okay'.

Since Jiang Cheng had given him such a precious gift like the Sword in the Stone, he was more than willing to spend some time with her.

As long as it didn't go against the path of justice he had chosen, he'd be happy to make Jiang Cheng cheer up today.

"Mm~"

Jiang Cheng chuckled.

"Excellent. Our first date activity is... let's go kill some gang members. How about it?"

With that, she didn't bother to see if Lyle kept up, and strolled off toward the slums.

Bringing the Hero to kill people—this sort of thing was just too much fun.

Lyle watched Jiang Cheng, whose spirits were clearly high, and could only sigh and follow along.

Killing gang members wasn't against his sense of justice anyway; he just wouldn't have deliberately gone out of his way to do it.

And so, several hours passed.

"Ahhh~"

Jiang Cheng sat atop a tall building, kicking her pale legs and shaking out her hands, the wounds from her divine arts already healed.

Below, accompanied by the lair of human traffickers being demolished by the divine phantom she had summoned and by Lyle, those phantoms also dispersed entirely.

"Ha, I had a lot of fun,"

Jiang Cheng tilted her head, addressing Lyle, who had just leapt up from below, without looking at him.

Lyle sighed, unable to follow her logic, but since he was accompanying her as thanks for her gift of the Sword in the Stone, it didn't matter.

"Very well, since I'm so happy, I'll tell you part of the truth about Adventurer City,"

Jiang Cheng said with a sly smile.

Lyle immediately sat up straight, looking serious—he hadn't expected to gain such a windfall.

"You trust me just like that?"

Jiang Cheng smiled as she watched Lyle, who was now listening to her like a child.

"I'll judge for myself whether to trust you or not,"

Lyle shook his head.

"But, since you're willing to tell me, of course I'll listen carefully."

"Tch."

Jiang Cheng pursed her lips. He talks nicely, but it was clear he still didn't truly trust her.

But that was normal. Because of her characterization, this time her initial favorability with Lyle was the lowest of all her previous identities.

She didn't even know why she'd impulsively picked this old personality of hers back then.

"All right, I'll begin then."

Jiang Cheng collected her thoughts and began.

"This time when you entered the deeper part of the corrupted zone, you still didn't sense the so-called King of corrupted monsters, did you?"

Hearing this, Lyle nodded seriously. "I actually wanted to ask about that."

"With my sensing abilities, if that thing really existed, it would be impossible for me not to sense it."

Jiang Cheng nodded. It was true—his sense was remarkable.

If he didn't have this supernatural-dog-nose-like perception, she wouldn't have bothered to come here and buy this pendant.

"That's right,"

Jiang Cheng said, "You really didn't sense the King of corrupted monsters, as expected."

"As expected not to sense it?"

Lyle frowned. "You mean... the King of corrupted monsters doesn't exist?"

"Of course... not,"

Jiang Cheng shrugged.

"The truth is, you couldn't possibly sense it because the King of corrupted monsters isn't even in the present world."

"Not in this world?"

Lyle said in shock, "Then where..."

"Exactly,"

Jiang Cheng smiled, "It's in the spirit realm, of course, so there's no way for you to sense it."

"So our next step is obvious: we need to find a way to reach the spirit realm."

At Jiang Cheng's words, Lyle nodded. "So, how do we get a way to the spirit realm?"

"It's very simple,"

Jiang Cheng shrugged, "The Mechanist Association has a holy relic gifted by a god—it can let people enter the spirit realm. You're the Hero; if you ask them for it, they won't refuse."

"That simple?"

Lyle was surprised.

"Of course not,"

Jiang Cheng rolled her eyes, "These relics and holy items always come with conditions. Didn't your teacher teach you that?"

"Even your Sword in the Stone can only be used by the Hero—that's a condition too."

"So, what are the conditions for that relic?"

"Within half a month, you have to conceal your identity during an adventurer-related event and achieve a massive victory,"

Jiang Cheng replied lightly.

"It just so happens that the Adventurer Hunt Tournament starts next week. It's our best chance to meet that requirement."

And also the weakest time for the Mechanist Association's defenses—making it the perfect chance for Ferran to steal something.

Jiang Cheng didn't mention the latter half of that.